Page 9 of Alpha's Bullied Mate
I walked away from her after tying her to the chair once again, listening to her spit curses that didn’t sound right in her gentle voice that I hadn’t missed.
***
My pack gathered outside. Jason had just returned from the local coffee shop to get us all drinks. I sniffed mine.
“You put some whiskey in there?”
“You got it.”
“Good.” I needed it after the bust-up yesterday. I drank deeply, savoring the sour burn of whiskey and coffee. I wondered if Jason’s contained alcohol, too, the leader of the cock-up. Looking at how Declan gripped his coffee cup and drank desperately, he likely did. “Let’s sort this mess out, yeah? The bottom line is that you messed up and got the wrong she-wolf. We just need to decide the best course of action.”
I didn’t want to come down hard on him. I wasn’t a shitty alpha like that. Sure, I got angry initially but I curbed it after some time, more focused on a solution than lingering in the festering annoyance.
“We could dump her over the territory lines,” Declan suggested. “Let her find her own way back.”
“And risk her ratting on us?” Jason countered. “No way. If she talks, they’ll be on guard when we return for Thalia.”
“We’re not going back for Thalia,” I said quietly. “And we’re not dumping Dakota, either.”
“What? I thought you said we need to decide the best—”
“I did,” I interrupted. “But that means I need you all to know my decision and see who agrees.”
“What if we owned up to—”
“Shut up, Ryan,” Jason muttered.
“What! You didn’t even hear what I was going to say.”
“You were about to suggest we admit our mistake to Fenrys’s pack,” Declan hissed. “You literally told me that last night it’d be the honest move.”
I stood up and stalked over to Ryan, dropping into a crouch next to him. He didn’t quite look at me, his eyes downcast. “We’re not honest. Not to that asshole. We do not play by the rules when it comes to them, don’t delude yourself by thinking that they would listen to reason, either. Trust me.”
I got back to my own seat around the fire pit and finished off my own drink. “We don’t show weakness, not when it comes to his pack. Let that be a lesson for all of you.”
“Okay, well, what about—”
“Your idea sucked, Jase,” Declan said. “We’d have no control over what she said. She could lie about us, make it sound worse. It’d be the quickfire route to inviting a fight with them onto their turf. We’d have no advantage.”
As he spoke, I got an idea. I turned around and looked into the house from outside, smiling. I couldn’t see Dakota, but I could picture her soft face contrasted by her fury. “That’s it.”
“What is?” Jason asked.
“We move her back to Oak Hill. We’ll give Fenrys one more full day to give a shit about her. We’ll have time to prepare that way. If he comes, we’ll be ready. Becoming a father has softened him, right?” I glanced at Declan, who’d been in charge of having Fenrys watched. “He likes tonegotiatefirst, and fight second, like his father. If he doesn’t come for Dakota then we’ll move her to Oak Hill, draw him out and away from Silverlake Valley, so we’ll have the upper hand when it comes to a fight.” I got up. “We’ll move back tomorrow. I have to head out to work. Declan, you’re in charge of her. Jase has work to do as well. Make sure nobody gets near her.”
“Got it, boss.”
“Everybody else, stay low. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. I don’t want any of you caught unaware in Fenrys’s town.”
Chapter 6 - Dakota
I didn’t sleep properly, upright in the chair, my ankles remaining bound together but not to the chair legs like before. My wrists were tied to the arms again, knotted right at my fingertips.
But sleep caught up to me eventually, and I dreamt fitfully, waking up with a tremble in my body from not being able to sleep. I felt sick and dizzy, tired and hungry, angry and aching. If Aidan tormenting me while awake wasn’t enough, he came to me in my dreams, too. In it, his words were angry and sharp, cutting me inside, but every time he wounded with words, I let out more anger. It was cathartic, and when I woke up, I was panting and ready to face him with renewed strength.
Except the dream showed him—his bare chest, hardened with muscle, a deep tan, and a trail of dark hair leading into his waistband. I woke up flushed, hating myself for dreaming of him in such a way. I hated him. Hated myself. Hated his pack. Hated Fenry’s pack. I felt like I could spit at Aidan, and it’d be pure venom, burning a hole through his house.
The living room was bathed in daylight, washing the walls with the sun, and bringing to light every shadowed corner I had been fearful of last night. In the light, it didn’t look so scary.
